Recaps

Song Ning left Harbor City for Hunan Province after investing in Cheung Kong Holdings and arranging for Dong Yuan and Dong Cheng to return home. On the bus to Yanling, she learned she had become Hunan Province’s top scorer and was confident she could enter Capital Military Medical University.

• Han Xiao told Song Ning that Qian Zelun, not Hu Yuankun, had fled with Hu Yuankai and was suspected of leading the “K” organization, while Gu Zheng agreed to let Han Xiao and Chen Liang accompany her to Hunan Province.
• Song Ning bought two hundred thousand dollars’ worth of Cheung Kong Holdings shares and stored the certificates in a Hui Feng Bank safe-deposit box.
• Song Ning asked Chen Liang to find out what to do with the hundred thousand dollars Hu Yuankai had transferred to her.
• In Flower City, Dong Yuan arrived with Dong Cheng, said he was taking the boy home to recover and return to school, and received the clothes Song Ning had bought for them.
• On August 9, Song Ning, Han Xiao, and Chen Liang flew to Star City and traveled by bus toward Yanling.
• Song Ning overheard passengers say she was Hunan Province’s top scorer, and Chen Liang and Han Xiao admired her achievement.

Song Ning was mobbed by officials and reporters at her medical examination after they learned she was Hunan Province's top scorer and the national runner-up. Yang Yindi publicly begged her for help, and Song Ning exposed how her relatives had mistreated her and Song Chengbing before Yang threatened to destroy their grandfather's keepsakes unless Song Ning helped her.

• Song Ning arrived at the county hospital for her medical examination and was celebrated by officials, reporters, and other candidates as the provincial top scorer and national runner-up.
• Yang Yindi knelt before the reporters and claimed she and Song Ning's second uncle needed help because Cai Juan had fled after attacking Erniu, who remained unconscious in the hospital.
• Yang Yindi clung to Song Ning's legs and pleaded for her to save them, but Song Ning reminded her that they had cut family ties.
• Song Ning told the reporters how Yang Yindi and her second uncle had taken the family home, tried to sell her into marriage, and planned to make Song Chengbing a live-in son-in-law.
• Yang Yindi admitted she would not dispute Song Ning's account but threatened to destroy their grandfather's keepsakes unless Song Ning helped her.

Song Ning exposed Yang Yindi’s threats to reporters and officials, leading to Yang’s detention, then learned more about the family’s debts and Song Caijuan’s escape. Song Ning headed to Luyuan Town to investigate whether Grandpa Song had left anything behind, hoping to question Song Jinbao at the town hospital.

• Yang Yindi demanded that Song Ning pay Yao Erniu’s hospital fees and give her five hundred yuan, but Song Ning told reporters about the threats and Yang’s demand.
• Public security officers took Yang Yindi away, and Chen Liang later reported that she would be detained for three days while receiving ideological education.
• Chen Liang told Song Ning that Song Caijuan had fled after knocking Yao Erniu unconscious, leaving the family responsible for his medical expenses and Yao Qianjin’s bride price.
• Yao Qianjin tried to clear his name with county officials by blaming Song Chengbing’s family, while Song Ning left without interrupting him.
• Song Ning, Chen Liang, and their companions borrowed a vehicle and drove to Luyuan Town, where Song Jinbao was hospitalized.

Song Ning followed Yang Yindi to Grandpa Song’s grave and recovered the box of belongings she had hidden there. Inside, Song Ning found an old fate slip and a medical report predicting she would die before twenty, then discovered another document that left her stunned.

• Song Ning questioned Song Jinbao at the hospital, but he did not know where Grandpa Song’s belongings were hidden.
• Song Ning waited for Yang Yindi to return to Yakou Village, then followed her at night to Grandpa Song’s grave.
• Yang Yindi dug a box out of the grave, but Song Ning caught it and forced her to restore the burial mound and beg Grandpa Song’s forgiveness.
• Song Ning opened the box and found a fate slip predicting the original owner would die young, along with a medical report saying she would not live past twenty.
• Song Ning saw another sheet beneath the medical report and stared at it in disbelief.

Song Ning examined Grandpa Song’s papers and discovered he had repeatedly traveled to Capital City seeking a Director Song to save her. She remained unsure what the papers meant for her fate, while she continued her college entrance political vetting and faced Yao Qianjin’s threat.

• Song Ning found Grandpa Song’s diary pages and train tickets showing that he had traveled to Capital City several times to find a Director Song who could save her.
• Song Ning asked Han Xiao to investigate Fuwai Hospital’s directors, and he and Chen Liang reported that none had been surnamed Song.
• Chen Liang told Song Ning that Gu Zheng’s team had arrested many members of the K organization and was close to dismantling it.
• Song Ning began her political vetting for the college entrance examination and obtained the village’s approval and seal.
• At the Luyuan Town office, Yao Qianjin praised Song Ning’s achievement, then threatened to make her younger sister pay if his son Erniu never woke up.

Song Ning completed her exam vetting and learned she had been selected for a procurement delegation traveling to Germany to discuss CT equipment. She decided to head toward Shanghai by way of Fujian Province, hoping to see the coastal Blue Tears.

• Song Ning persuaded Mayor Yao to sign and stamp her vetting form, and he escorted her out while trying to keep her from revealing his misconduct.
• Song Ning submitted her form to the county Education Bureau and asked officials to hold her admission letter while she was away.
• Chen Liang told Song Ning that the Ministry of Commerce had invited her to join the Germany-bound procurement delegation from Shanghai City.
• Song Ning called Qi Shiyuan, who explained that the German side had specifically requested her and asked about her plans for the proposed technical collaboration.
• Song Ning showed Chen Liang and Han Xiao her marked map and proposed traveling to Shanghai City through Fujian Province to see the Blue Tears.

Song Ning traveled toward Ping Tan Island to investigate a possible link between Blue Tears and the K organization, despite learning that A Pu had been rescued from a police transfer. At a guesthouse in Ying City, she confronted a man beating a woman and accused him of being a human trafficker.

• Song Ning pointed out Ping Tan Island as her destination, and Chen Liang and Han Xiao said they might need approval to go there.
• Chen Liang and Han Xiao reported that attackers had hijacked a police vehicle and rescued only A Pu, while the boss and his team pursued him without contact.
• Song Ning decided to continue toward Ping Tan Island, and the group traveled through Star City to Ying City before booking rooms near the station.
• Unable to sleep because of crying and violence next door, Song Ning took a wooden clothes hanger and banged on the man's door.
• Song Ning accused the man of beating a woman and possibly being a human trafficker, while Chen Liang and Han Xiao appeared behind her and intimidated him.

Song Ning recognized Lan Ying, a woman she had helped rescue from human traffickers, being beaten and held by Wu Shuan, who claimed she was his wife. Lan Ying explained she had agreed to marry him for eighty yuan to pay for her father's amputation, but she had never registered the marriage and did not want to go through with it; Song Ning promised to help her the next day.

• Song Ning confronted Wu Shuan about beating the woman in his room and warned him that he could face legal consequences.
• Lan Ying recognized Song Ning, and Song Ning pulled her away from Wu Shuan while Han Xiao blocked him from dragging her back.
• Han Xiao showed Wu Shuan his identification and promised the group would verify whether the marriage was legal, after which Wu Shuan retreated to his room.
• Lan Ying told Song Ning she had agreed to marry Wu Shuan for eighty yuan to pay for her father's urgent amputation, but he had beaten her during their journey and threatened her.
• Lan Ying said she had never registered the marriage and did not want to marry Wu Shuan, so Song Ning let her stay the night and promised to help resolve the situation the next day.

Song Ning freed Lan Ying from Wu Youquan by exposing his past crime and securing a written breakup of their engagement. After leaving, Song Ning destroyed the marriage attestation and asked Lan Ying whether she wanted to return home or travel with them to Fuzhou.

• Song Ning stopped Wu Youquan from taking Lan Ying away and confronted him about their unregistered marriage.
• Song Ning offered to repay the bride price, and Wu Youquan agreed to end the engagement after she threatened to report his crime.
• Wu Youquan signed and fingerprinted a statement ending his ties to Lan Ying, and Song Ning gave him one hundred yuan.
• Song Ning took Lan Ying away, then tore up the marriage attestation outside the train station.
• Chen Liang explained that Wu Youquan had fled after accidentally setting a fire while peeping at a widow, and Song Ning asked Lan Ying whether she wanted a ticket home or to go with them to Fuzhou.

Song Ning brought Lan Ying along to Fuzhou and arranged for her to join the trip to Ping Tan Island, where she hoped to see the sea’s blue fireflies. While Song Ning and her companions went out by boat, Lan Ying explored the shore with Baomei, but a man’s muffled grunt behind her left her frozen.

• Lan Ying asked Song Ning to take her away, and Song Ning agreed to bring her to Fuzhou.
• Song Ning decided Lan Ying could accompany them to Ping Tan Island, with Chen Liang and Han Xiao staying with them.
• At a fishing village near Fuqing County, Song Ning asked Huang Ali to take them out to see the blue fireflies, while Lan Ying stayed ashore with Baomei.
• Baomei took Lan Ying to the beach, where Lan Ying gathered shells and marveled at seeing the sea for the first time.
• After Baomei left to take the shells home, Lan Ying heard a man grunt in pain behind her and froze.

Lan Ying secretly helped an injured, handsome stranger hiding behind a reef, while Song Ning and her companions went night fishing with Huang Ali. The chapter ended as a large, fast boat approached them at sea.

• Lan Ying found an injured man behind a reef, and he asked her to help without telling anyone.
• Lan Ying got Mercurochrome, gauze, and snacks from Baomei's home and brought them to the man after midnight.
• The man said he had enemies and warned Lan Ying not to contact Public Security or tell anyone about him.
• Huang Ali took Song Ning and her two companions to his nighttime fishing grounds to look for the Blue Fireflies.
• Huang Ali and Song Ning spotted a large boat moving quickly toward them, and Huang Ali waved his lantern at it.

After Song Ning boarded a navy patrol boat near Ping Tan Island, Gu Zheng explained that his team was pursuing A Pu and questioned her about her unusual abilities and reasons for coming to the island. He confessed that he was captivated by her and waited for her to reveal some of her secrets, leaving Song Ning to decide what she could tell him.

• Huang Ali identified the approaching vessel as a navy patrol boat, and Chen Liang signaled its crew to bring them aboard.
• Song Ning asked Huang Ali to look after her younger sister before climbing aboard and discovering that Gu Zheng had steadied her.
• Gu Zheng told Chen Liang, Han Xiao, and Song Ning that A Pu's boat had capsized, A Pu was missing, and the search around Ping Tan Island would intensify.
• Gu Zheng privately explained how Song Ning's repeated involvement had helped the investigation against the K organization and said A Pu was likely its top leader.
• Gu Zheng asked Song Ning why she had come to Ping Tan Island and how she knew how to drive and use Morse Code, noting that her abilities could not all have come from her grandfather.
• Gu Zheng said he trusted and admired Song Ning, confessed that he was captivated by her, and asked her to share enough to answer some of his questions.

Song Ning explained why she had come to Ping Tan Island, and Gu Zheng revealed the history of the Blue Shield researchers and the K organization’s attacks on them. After seeing the sea’s Blue Tears, Song Ning concluded that her grandfather had meant the Blue Shield badges, while Gu Zheng asked whether Lu Changqing was the other person entrusted with the mission.

• Song Ning told Gu Zheng that she had come to Ping Tan Island to investigate the Blue Tears and suspected the island housed a secret research base connected to the K organization.
• Aboard the patrol boat, Song Ning and Gu Zheng saw a vast blue glow spread across the sea.
• Gu Zheng explained that the island’s researchers were honored as Blue Shield and that the badges found in Qian Zezhong’s safe had belonged to researchers 055 and 027.
• Gu Zheng said the K organization sabotaged research bases, stole research, and harmed Blue Shield members, and vowed to destroy it.
• Song Ning said her grandfather’s Blue Tears mission must have concerned Blue Shield badges and revealed that another comrade had received the mission with him.
• Gu Zheng asked Song Ning whether that comrade was Lu Changqing.

Song Ning explained the mission her grandfather and Lu Changqing inherited, and Gu Zheng connected it to the K organization's destruction of the Xiaolu Mountain research base. After their conversation, Gu Zheng pressed Song Ning to explain her unusual abilities, including her business success and driving skills.

• Song Ning told Gu Zheng that her grandfather and Lu Changqing had promised a dying man to carry out a mission, and that Lu Changqing alone knew what to do after finding Blue Tears.
• Gu Zheng recalled Lu Changqing's 1975 flood-relief service in Henan Province, and Song Ning confirmed that he met her grandfather there and became engaged to her.
• Song Ning revealed that the dying man said the dam breach had been deliberately caused by military personnel.
• Gu Zheng described how the K organization used the Henan dam breaches to destroy the Xiaolu Mountain research base and kill its researchers, and he connected the case to Song Ning's grandfather's mission.
• Song Ning and Gu Zheng concluded that the mission likely involved the lost research, then returned to the cabin, where Gu Zheng asked Song Ning about herself.
• Song Ning said her pill-given abilities let her learn things in advance by reading newspapers, and Gu Zheng asked whether that was also how she learned to drive.

Song Ning told Gu Zheng about her awakening abilities, and Gu Zheng confessed his feelings while promising to wait for her explanation. As Gu Zheng organized the search for fugitives and tried to move Lan Ying to safety, Lan Ying and Baomei disappeared from Huang Ali’s house.

• Song Ning admitted to Gu Zheng that she had been awakening new abilities, and Gu Zheng asked whether they were connected to her rejecting him.
• Gu Zheng told Song Ning he trusted her and would wait until she was ready to reveal her secret; Song Ning then told him she had placed first in Hunan Province in the National College Entrance Examination.
• After the patrol vessel returned to port, Gu Zheng reported information about the 022 Base at Xiaolu Mountain to a Senior Leader and directed Yang Qi to assist the Fuqing County search.
• Gu Zheng ordered Chen Liang to bring Lan Ying aboard because the fishing village was in a priority search area, while he stayed to guard Ping Tan Island.
• Chen Liang arrived at Huang Ali’s house and discovered that Lan Ying and Baomei were missing; Huang Ali searched nearby homes and the beach but found no trace of them.

Song Ning found clues that Baomei and Lan Ying had left Fishing Village by boat, possibly after someone was injured, and led a search north along the coast. The search ended when the group spotted a person floating among the reef rocks.

• Song Ning questioned Ahui and learned that Baomei and Lan Ying had been well when Ahui last saw them.
• Song Ning found fresh bloodstained gauze behind a reef rock, and Ahui discovered that the household’s medicine box was missing.
• Song Ning realized Lan Ying’s bag was gone and learned that Huang Ali’s old boat had also disappeared.
• Song Ning concluded that the girls might have gone to Xiaohe Village and organized a search along the coast.
• Song Ning’s group spotted a person floating among the reef rocks and stopped the boat.

Song Ning resuscitated Baomei after finding her unconscious in the water, and Baomei revealed that a wounded man had strangled her after she and Lan Ying tried to help him. With Baomei sent to the hospital, Song Ning, Chen Liang, Han Xiao, and Huang Ali headed for Xiaohe Village to find Lan Ying and the attacker.

• Chen Liang carried Baomei from the rocks, and Song Ning performed CPR until the girl coughed and regained a weak heartbeat.
• Song Ning treated Baomei and wrapped her in a jacket, and Baomei later woke and reunited with Huang Ali.
• Baomei explained that Lan Ying had asked her to help transport a wounded man, who grabbed her by the neck and pushed her into the water.
• Baomei urged Song Ning to rescue Lan Ying, while Chen Liang arranged for servicemen to take Baomei to the hospital.
• Huang Ali offered to help pursue the attacker, and he took Song Ning, Chen Liang, and Han Xiao by boat toward Xiaohe Village.

Song Ning and Han Xiao searched Xiaohe Village for the wounded fugitive and discovered that Uncle Gen was likely being forced to shelter him. They left Uncle Gen’s home after he refused Song Ning’s offer of help, suspecting that the fugitive was using his grandson as a hostage.

• Song Ning reasoned that the fugitive and Lan Ying might be hiding in Xiaohe Village, while Han Xiao urged everyone to wait for authorities and avoid alerting him.
• Huang Ali asked villagers for news and learned that Uncle Gen was the only local with knowledge of traditional medicine and had not appeared at the shop that day.
• Song Ning, Han Xiao, and Huang Ali went to Uncle Gen’s home, where he angrily tried to drive them away.
• Song Ning offered Uncle Gen money and passed him a note asking whether he needed help, but he rejected the offer and shut the gate.
• Song Ning inferred that the fugitive was holding Uncle Gen’s young grandson hostage, and Han Xiao suspected the fugitive had contacted accomplices.

Song Ning and the others arrested four fugitives and rescued Uncle Gen’s grandson, but Lan Ying and the man she rescued remained missing. At the county hospital, Baomei recounted how Lan Ying had asked about borrowing a boat, giving Song Ning a new clue.

• Song Ning waited anxiously while Han Xiao and Chen Liang gathered information and reinforcements arrived to search Uncle Gen’s house.
• Yang Qi’s team captured two injured men hiding in the house, then arrested two more and rescued Uncle Gen’s grandson from outside the village.
• The fugitives said they did not know Lan Ying, and Song Ning realized the man Lan Ying had rescued was still unaccounted for.
• Song Ning and Huang Ali visited Baomei at the county hospital, where Song Ning asked her to describe the morning’s events.
• Baomei said Lan Ying had rescued a badly injured man and asked whether her family had another boat.

After hearing Baomei describe how Lan Ying and an injured man attacked her, Song Ning investigated Yutoubao and found evidence that the man had signaled accomplices. The story leaves Lan Ying waiting to enter Ping Tan Island, delighted that the injured man trusted her with something important.

• Baomei told Song Ning that the injured man grabbed her by the throat after Lan Ying brought him aboard, and Song Ning promised to find those responsible.
• Song Ning paid Huang Ali for his help and asked him to take her, Chen Liang, and Han Xiao to Yutoubao.
• Han Xiao found bird droppings, firewood, and fresh ashes from clothing on the reef, and Song Ning concluded that the man had used a fire to signal accomplices.
• Song Ning and the others considered which of the surrounding islands might have received the signal.
• Lan Ying joined the long line of fishermen waiting to enter Ping Tan Island and thought happily about the man's trust in her.

Lan Ying reached Ping Tan Island using borrowed papers, while Song Ning and the others followed after learning A Pu had fled there with plans and local support. Gu Zheng tightened security and ordered the Second Plan as a sudden factory holiday cleared the Fuqing Agricultural Machinery Factory.

• Lan Ying passed the checkpoint by claiming to be Zhang Afen and headed toward the Mazu Temple, following people carrying incense.
• Song Ning explained that A Pu had used Yutoubao to send a smoke signal and might exploit Lan Ying, then reached Ping Tan Island with Chen Liang and Han Xiao.
• Chen Liang reported A Pu's likely plans to Gu Zheng, who repositioned the island's sentries and ordered Comrade 016 to implement the Second Plan.
• The Fuqing Agricultural Machinery Factory director announced an unexpected half-day holiday after receiving a call about a technical conference in Fuzhou.
• The factory workers left, and the gatekeeper locked the gates before going home.

Song Ning, Han Xiao, and Chen Liang visited Mazu Temple while watching for A Pu’s disguised men. Song Ning noticed that every hall had an unlit candle whose wick had never been lit, and she left wondering whether the repeated pattern was a coincidence.

• Song Ning refused to approach Gu Zheng because she thought A Pu might have a scheme and could send disguised men onto the island.
• Song Ning suggested that they follow the fishermen to Mazu Temple, hoping her lucky koi trait would lead them to something useful.
• Song Ning and the two men followed the worshippers through the temple and noticed an unlit candle in each of the first halls.
• Han Xiao checked one candle and found its wick white, showing that it had never been lit.
• Song Ning found another unlit candle in the Dragon Kings’ hall and questioned whether every hall having one was really a coincidence.

Song Ning discovered that the Mazu Temple backed onto the island’s agricultural machinery factory, which might conceal Hua Country’s secret research base. As she investigated suspicious unlit candles, Lan Ying followed the instructions of the injured man who had manipulated her into helping him, and Song Ning began to suspect the candles’ purpose.

• Song Ning, Han Xiao, and Chen Liang found a locked gate behind the temple, and Chen Liang used his identification to get it opened.
• Song Ning climbed the hill and realized the Fuqing County Agricultural Machinery Factory stood directly behind the Mazu Temple, possibly serving as cover for a secret research base.
• Lan Ying recalled how the injured man had won her trust with a kiss and persuaded her to pray for his family and Baomei while placing candles in every hall.
• Song Ning returned to the Dragon King Hall and confirmed that the suspicious candles remained unlit despite worshippers passing through the halls.
• Song Ning and the men arranged to watch the halls, while Song Ning wondered what purpose the unlit candles could serve.

Song Ning realized the candles in Mazu Temple were part of a chained bombing intended to destroy the Research Base, but she failed to stop the Main Hall candle from being lit and the first explosion killed worshippers and wrecked the temple. Han Xiao and Chen Liang evacuated the remaining explosive candles and searched for Song Ning, while the injured man behind the plot realized the rest of his planned explosions had not gone off.

• Song Ning recognized that the candles in the temple halls were connected and sent Han Xiao to remove those in the rear halls while she rushed to the Main Hall.
• Song Ning tried to stop Lan Ying from lighting an explosive candle, but it caught fire before she could intervene.
• Song Ning leaped into the Life-Release Pond as the Main Hall exploded, collapsing part of the Sleeping Hall and flooding the ruins with seawater.
• Han Xiao and Chen Liang handed the recovered candles to staff, warned that more explosives might remain, and ran to find Song Ning.
• The injured man on a distant island heard one explosion, waited in vain for more, and angrily blamed the woman he had persuaded to carry out the plan.

After an explosion destroyed Mazu Temple, Gu Zheng and Han Xiao feared Song Ning had been killed while rescuing people. Unbeknownst to them, Song Ning had survived and was being carried away by two conspirators as the island went into lockdown.

• Gu Zheng arrived at the ruined temple as soldiers evacuated worshippers and searched for explosives, while Chen Liang and Han Xiao worked silently in the water.
• Combat engineers found nearly twenty kilograms of explosives in the West Side Side Hall, and officials estimated that fifteen to twenty people might have died.
• A comrade told Gu Zheng that Song Ning was probably among the dead, and Gu Zheng ordered the temple grounds sealed while rescue teams searched the shore.
• Han Xiao told Gu Zheng he could not find Song Ning, and Gu Zheng insisted she would be all right.
• Song Ning, swept out to sea by the blast, overheard Gangzi and Xiazai discuss their mission and pretended to be unconscious so they would not know she had heard them.
• Gangzi and Xiazai carried Song Ning to their battered boat and claimed she was sick when they reached the naval blockade.